Learn how to Sew a Peasant Dress with this free Pattern (sz 12 mo to 14y)

Learn how to sew a Peasant Dress with this free pattern!

I love Peasant Dresses- they truly are one of the simplest dresses to make. I’m so happy to share this free peasant dress pattern and tutorial with you today. The free peasant dress pattern comes in size 12 months to a girls size 14 with both long and short sleeve options.

Why Sew a Peasant Dress?

One of the reasons a basic peasant dress pattern is so great, (other than the fact it is so easy to make) is there are just SO MANY different ways to change up the look of a simple peasant dress. From various lengths – this dress looks great above the knee, below the knee, tunic length or as a top. To all the different fabric choices you can make, different sleeve options (long, short, 3/4 flutter, flounce) and of course hem choices (ruffles, tiers, contrasting fabric bands or scallops.) And don’t even get me started on all the ways you can embellish this dress for a little extra pizzazz, lol!

I do like like to keep our dresses fairly simple. I’ve learned, (the hard way) that after about the age of 5, too many frills, ruffles or too much pink is not the way to go, lol. I do have at least 20 variations of this peasant dress pattern (different sleeve options, hems, lengths, etc…) that I have sewn over the years. See them here for a few ideas.

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Why a peasant dress is so perfect for beginners:

Whether you are picking up sewing again after a several year hiatus (like I did – nothing more motivating to get you back to sewing than a sweet little daughter or granddaughter to sew for!) or are just starting out (welcome to the club!) A peasant dress is a super simple pattern that will help you master a few basic sewing skills. The most difficult part of this pattern (other than cutting it out and taping it together) is trying not to sew the sleeve on backward or maybe sewing the casing for the elastic band in the sleeve (and that is only because it’s small.) This style of a dress is very forgiving, if you make a mistake, just remove the stitches and re-sew it.

A peasant dress will grow with her:

A peasant dress is fairly boxy in shape. The elasticized neckline and sleeves bring the dress in and give it shape. Because a peasant dress is loose, it will start as a dress but as your daughter grows, she will most likely continue to wear it as a tunic or top. (My missy had a nightgown she wore constantly for 3 years. I replaced the elastic just last year, to make the neckline bigger and she still wears it!)

This printable Peasant Dress Pattern is free for you to download. The file is a pdf pattern and includes the full dress and 2 sleeve shapes (short and long.) I have updated it over the years and it is currently available in 7 different sizes: 12 to 18 months, 2t/3t, 4/6, 7/8, 9/10, 12 and 14.

Update log:

*update 11/2013: this pattern now has a long sleeve option! See the long sleeve dress I made here.

*update 5/18 Pattern now goes up to size 14. Finished dress length hits at the top of the knee. Original bodice only/paper saving peasant can be found on my Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom Pattern page in the files section. If you want this original version, you will have to request for access in the group. Too many people keep downloading it by mistake and then email me because the full pattern is not there!!!

(Note: On the last pattern update (5/18) I updated the pattern to include the full dress instead of just the bodice. Personally, I preferred the bodice only version because it used half the amount of paper. If you prefer that version too, I kept a copy of the original pattern and password protected it to avoid confusion with the new version. The link and password in the paragraph directly above this one.

For the peasant dress version I am showcasing today, I decided to keep the dress simple and let the two fabrics make the statement for our fall pumpkin photos. I planned on making a pair of brown knit ruffle leggings to go with this dress, so I made the length a bit shorter (really more of a tunic top) to complement the leggings.

I find the tunic length is perfect for school as it allows my missy wear leggings to school and still adheres to the dress code.

Are you ready to learn how to sew this Peasant Dress?

Head over to page 2 for the Pattern Download or skip to page 3 for the sewing instructions.

Comments

Wow!!!… Thank you!!!… Early in the morning I was looking for some tutorial for the peasant dress with sleeve… Thank you so much for make this tutorial!!!… I've used one of your tutos and you explains so great!!!… I will do this too!!!… I'll be posting some photos!!!… Please forgive my english…

Did you add more to the side angles when using the Peasant for a roomy nitegown?
Could you draw up a regular yoke multi-size pattern, then just give gathered skirt measurements for it? Need some long-sleeved for Christmas flannels. Thanks!

Thanks for your tutorial. I can't wait to try out this pattern. I absolutely adore the fall fabric use used for your daughter's tunic. I tried finding some, but all the fall fabric I found was so grown-up looking, more like something you'd sew place mats with, not cute girl dresses; however, I have some fabric I bought for Go Texan Day in February that will be perfect for this dress.

That is so pretty! I love the fabric and she looks so precious in it. Thank you for sharing. Would love it if you would share this at my Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House which goes live at 8am CST on Monday.

Thanks for sharing…. I love the peasant dresses…. and I was sitting here looking at the pattern and tutorial… and it struck me that this would be so cute in red flannel and add length to the sleeves… for a cute nightgown…. Thanks for the inspirtaton

Thank-you for this lovely tutorial. I have been put off sewing dresses/clothes recently as they are always too small for my kids! But this tutorial is so clear, I have run up 2 tops (one for each of the girls)in a morning. I will definitely be using it again – let's hope that we have a Summer in the Uk this year…my girls can wear many different combinations of these!

Thank you. I just made the 2t/3t for my 18 month old, as she is very tall (33 3/4 inches) and I prefer her dresses longer than shorter. I'm loving it! The elastic measurements were very helpful too and correct for my little girl (went with a 18 inch neck, her arms are 7 inches, and a 15 3/4 inch skirt length from the armpit). She's tall and thin (24.5 lbs). Thanks for the easy to follow directions and great pattern. I'm set to do some more with different styles based off your pattern with layered ruffles. You saved me a trip to the store and some money. And she's loving it too. She hardly let me have it back to finish it all off. Great job you Crafty Mom!

thank you for this great pattern and tutuorial.I just used it to make a terry cloth swim cover up, inspired by a Disney Princess, for my grand daughter. It turned out really cute.Your pattern worked perfectly and saved my a trip to the store.

Just finished making this for my 3-year-old daughter. It turned out very cute. My finished length, from armpit to bottom hem, was about 17 inches. I used the 2t/3t size pattern, and I would consider my finished size to be a roomy 3T. My daughter is tall (can often wear 4t dresses) and thin, so it is sometimes hard for me to judge size.

One question: what size elastic did you use? I searched high and low on the tutorial directions, but could not find if you mentioned that. I had to make my elastic casing on the neckline a bit bigger than you suggested, probably because I used a tad bigger elastic. But it turned out fine.

I did it! One super cute peasant dress with shirred sleeves. My girls are tall and skinny, so I adjusted the pattern a bit. I made the dress 16 1/2 inches, based on another dress the girls had worn. Is there somewhere I can send a picture?

Also, on the subject of shirring: What stitch length do you use? I used a 5mm and it didn't shrink up as much as I'd like. Does that mean I need to shorten the stitch length?

Thanks so much for an awesome tutorial! I have been wanting to make one, but never found a pattern I felt explained it well enough for my beginner self to try. I finished my first peasant dress today for my 3 year old and I am in love! As is she…she refuses to take it off! Thanks again for a great tutorial!

I'm pretty late to finding this, but this is great! I made a dress for my daughter last night and it's so adorable on her! It was my first one! Now I'm thinking I'll make matching dresses for my nieces for Christmas 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing this great tutorial!

I'm not sure if you still need this, but if you look through her free tutorials, there is already a pattern for leggings with "flounce." I used this idea to add flounce onto the arms of a shirt (with longer sleeves), and it turned out great! Hope that helps. 🙂

I am so totally in love with this tutorial. I don't even have a daughter or granddaughter so I am going to make this for my housekeeper's daughter! What I love best is you showing three different sleeve options! Brilliant! (And I pinned it!) Thank you 🙂

Thanks for the great tutorial! I'm not a seasoned sewer, but i could not get the shirring to work at all. Your tutorial link says to turn the fabric around, but i assume that is because it is on one side of fabric. For the sleeves, do we jsut go all the way around once for each row? Thanks!

Hello Jamie, I dont think you know me, but I have been teaching myself to sew by stalking you and 2 other blogs! 🙂I love this tut and I made these for my 2 year old twins, so thank you for helping me in sewing.I have blogged about it and linked this tut, hope that ok, here is the link if you wanna have a look at it annusplace.blogspot.com

I'm not sure if you're still answering posts, but I was wondering whether you tried adding the same dimensions to the size 4/7 pattern as you did from the 2/3T in order to make a size 8/10. I want to try it out; I'm hoping it works 🙂

Just finished downloading pattern … still new to all that stuff, but it was successful! I love to sew for my granddaughters and send them outfits that I know will fit for a while. This is a gem. Thanks again for sharing. I have pinned you and I hope others get to enjoy your hard work too!

Thanks so much for making a pattern that goes all the way up to a 7! I have had the hardest time finding anything past size 2. I just got some fabric I really want to use with this pattern so hopefully I will get a chance soon. If I blog about it I will let you know!

I am going to make this in a size 7 with stretchy material for the arms and adding a large ruffle at the bottom for length. My daughter is a size 8-10 so the size 7 would be more like a shirt than a dress! Any suggestions on any measurement adjustments I need to make to make sure the neck and arm holes are wide enough? Thanks!

Hi April, I have not made a size 8/10, but this pattern is very adjustable. I think you would be ok if you added 2 inches to the top of the bodice and sleeve. I also think it would be a good idea to move the pattern over 1/2 inch from the fold. This will give you an extra 2 inches of width.~Jamie

Thanks for this great tutorial. I think I'm going to adjust this for two costumes I have to make for my daughter's school play. They're a bit bigger (12/14), but I think I can make those adjustments using your pattern and t-shirts that fit her as a guide.

Hi Jamie – Thank you so much for your free pattern. Your finished dress looks lovely on your daughter. I'm making dresses for charity known as Dress A Girl Around the World and dresses for some of the countries are required to have sleeves. I don't have a little one to measure so your elastic measurements are so helpful. This is a great pattern and your tutorial is very easy to follow. Thank you again, best wishes, Virginia in Australia

so cute, thanks for sharing all the sizes!! I just want wanted to let you know that I've put together a post called 20+ free sewing patterns for kids and this is part of it!! I've spread the word all around and I hope you will see some extra visits ;o)

I used this pattern as a base for my daughter's Easter dress, and it turned out great! I bound the top and the bottoms of the sleeves with bias-cut fabric, added two flounces at the bottom and used a piece of ribbon as a sash, since I ran out of time to make her a fabric sash. I did have to make it a little larger, since my little girl wears a size 10, but it wasn't difficult. This is a very well-written tutorial, thank you! 🙂

I have used your pattern to make my daughter a peasant top with short sleeves, a tunic with 3/4 sleeve, and a dress. Thank you for a well written tutorial. I am a novice sewer and was so pleased with the results. Thanks again!

Well.. I did it! I don't really sew and have never followed a pattern before but I did it! I made 2 dresses for my girls. I have a very tall 3 year old and a one year old. The 3yr old I did the 4/5 size for with a longer length of 22" and the 1yr old I did the 2/3 size with 18" length. Both are adorAble and come between knee and ankle in length. The addition I made to the smaller dress was to add a ribbon to the back for a tie just below her armpits by a couple inches. Super easy and did it in a contrasting color. It's helpful since she's a toddler and tipsy as it is. Thank you for a wonderful and easy pattern even *I* could follow. My older daughter now wants to sell all her pants to buy dresses. Ha! Looks like I've got a few more dresses to make. 🙂

Hello! I've had great luck making size 3 dresses with your pattern, but was curious about bigger sizes. For the size 4/6, is the only difference in fit the length? Are these bodices like pillowcase dresses where they fit over several sizes? I apologize if this seems like a silly question, but it only have boys and make dresses for friend's little girls, haha.

Hi Jamie, I was looking for a simple peasant style pattern to sew a little dress for my granddaughter who just happens to be named….wait for it…Jamie! I picked up the most beautiful, vintage scrap of floral voile. It's turning out to be gorgeous! Thank you so much for sharing this for no charge! I may comment again with a link if it turns out well!

Really cute little dress,thought i would try to make this for my great niece. I thought i would try to make this for my great niece, it's been a long time since i for sewn anything . But i was wondering how much of a seam allowance did you leave? Thanks for sharing this pattern!!

Hmmm…sorry if this shows up twice. I'm apparently having technical difficulties today. Anyway, I absolutely love this pattern and would like to make a couple Halloween-themed dresses for my girls, ages 5 & 3. However, when I try to download the pattern from Google Docs, I get the following error message:

"Sorry, you can't view or download this file at this time. Too many users have viewed or downloaded this file recently. Please try accessing the file again later. If the file you are trying to access is particularly large or is shared with many people, it may take up to 24 hours to be able to view or download the file. If you still can't access a file after 24 hours, contact your domain administrator."

Do you have any ideas on a workaround for obtaining this pattern? I would really love to give this a whirl. Thanks so much for making this a free pattern. My girls and I truly appreciate it. 🙂

I found a weird workaround. At first I was just trying to download the pattern to my desktop, which is what gave me the error. Then I hit print, which opened up an Adobe Reader dialogue box. Then I hit cancel print, which left the PDF open in Reader. From there I was able to save it to my desktop from this weird shadow menu that appeared at the bottom of the document if I sort of hovered my mouse over it. Bizarre, but I made it work. Thanks! I can't wait to get started.

I just tested it and didn't have any issues on my end, but I re-uploaded it to change the link, just in case. (Plus I saw someone shared the pattern link instead of the post link on facebook- which violates my terms of use- and is just not nice…)When printing, make sure to open the pattern in the real adobe reader and print from there. I've notice if you try to print from the reader app associated with google drive/docs, patterns don't always print to scale.

I love your peasant dress pattern. Thank you for sharing! I am new to sewing and already made a long sleeve version. I am now working on a short sleeve peasant dress and would like to shirr the sleeves. I followed your link and found many helpful tips but am still a little confused. Your tutorial for the shirred dress has you shirring the front and back before sewing them together. How do I do this with my short sleeves that are already stitched together? Do I back stitch at the beginning and end of each row? Would it be easier in the future to shirr the sleeves before sewing the sleeves and body together? Thank you :)Roxanne

oops, sorry I missed this comment until just now. For the peasant dress sleeve, I shirred "in the round." Meaning, after the sleeve was attached to the dress, I stared at the bottom edge of the sleeve and kept going in circles without stopping until I got 3 rows. Hope that helps!~Jamie

Thank you so much for the pattern and the tutorial. Made the dress tonight for my little baby granddaughter. I did a Minnie Mouse dress for our trip to Disney world. Wish I knew how to post a pic so you could see it.

I just wanted to thank you for this awesome pattern! Your instructions and photos are so easy to follow. I was able to bust out three dresses last week with varying accents for my daughter! Will definitely be making more.

Hi, have tried this dress and turned out great. My daughter is happy with this dress and also have sewn her tank top. All of your patterns are easy to follow with detailed instructions, photos and suggested variations. Wow, you are great. Will like to thank you for such great free and easy to follow patterns. Will you mind if I share link for this pattern on other blogs or site? Thank you very much!

Hi Amruta, I'm happy to have you share the link to the tutorial posts! I made a choice to not to sell my patterns, but to share them for free and just make what I can from the advertisements on my blog. So the more people who visit, the better! (Keeps me in craft supplies and fabric, lol!)Thanks for asking!~Jamie

Been looking for a dress like this – thanks so much! However, I downloaded it, and put my printing to "no scale". Doing this, the 1" box measures out perfect, but the gray boxes have no gray top to them at the top of each page, and just show a tiny bit of the oval with the letter. Should I just line up where the oval with the letter is or am I missing a printer setting? I'm printing in landscape, but don't see any other print settings to use. Thanks

How do i get to the tutorial. Your page is so heavy with adds It took forever and still did not completely load. I understand its for money. I get that, but wow. I got the pattern but see no way of sewing instructions..

I’m so glad you found the pattern! I have put countless hours and money into the upkeep of this website and the creation of over 120 patterns and tutorials that I make available at no cost to you. I hope you enjoy this pattern and are able to sew something pretty for a loved one or someone in need.
The ads load after the content has loaded and does not slow the page down. The reason it is slow is that is that there are many photos in this post and that does take time to load.

I agree that pdf patterns are a pain to put together, but that’s just the way things are now. I am sure you can find a peasant dress tissue/paper pattern to purchase at you local sewing store. But keep in mind this one is free and has been downloaded over 55,000 times. (just imagine if I had a dollar for every time this pattern had been downloaded. I’d have a fully funded college savings account for both kids.)

Thank you so much for your free pattern, it is perfect for the dresses for Africa project. I have made 6 dresses so far. Your pattern was easy to understand and sew. I plan on making many more, your dresses are blessing others across the globe.

Know those recipes where people say “I changed everything about it, but it’s a great recipe!” That was me making this nightgown. I didn’t know how I was going to make it, so I bought material weeks ago. I didn’t have enough for sleeves. I did have enough for some thin straps, so I did that. And since I didn’t sew sleeves to it, I did a rolled hem on the bottom of the straps & the arm hole (because I didn’t have enough for facing either). I anticipate quite a few summer dresses for the granddaughter, & yearly jammies now that I’ve found this pattern, so I’ll have opportunity to get it right.
Thanks, it’s exactly what I was looking for (& I want a grown-up size because it’s adorable)!

Ha ha, Angela, I know exactly what you mean! One of the reasons I love this pattern so much is you can change it up and do so much with it. I’m going to be adding a couple of larger sizes to the pattern this spring and I am also hoping to get to an adult version too. Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by with a comment!
~Jamie

Hi thanks so much love the tutorial and pattern. I’m making one up for my daughter who is 7mths old – using the 12mth old pattern. Was wondering if I can adjust it to make a size to fit her now? perhaps take it in?

You could try sliding the bodice and sleeve pieces over about an inch past the fold (so the pieces will be narrower) I also think since she is crawling, you will want the dress/to be a wider fit on the bottom. So measure over 2.5 inches from the armscye to get the bottom skirt width.

I’m so grateful for the work and time you give. Just wanted to share how much your pattern meant to a little girl, and me. Over a year ago I made a dress and pjs for my granddaughter. I just received a text with a photo of a pleading face asking for a larger pj. Right now it is very cold and I made the peasant dress out of flannel with a ruffle on the bottom to extend the use. Poor child can barely fit into it as a shirt! She doesn’t want to give it up! Bless you for having the pattern ready in a larger size! I will be sewing away promptly with a joyful heart!

Thank you! My daughter is going through the exact same thing right now. She has completely outgrown all her nightgowns I’ve made with this pattern. I’ve even replaced the elastic to make them last longer. At Christmas time, I tried to find some larger sized nightgowns I could just purchase so she could have something to wear that fit properly, but they were all sold out everywhere! She needs a size 12 now (or 14 since I like to size up.) I am in the process of adding a few more larger sizes very soon and making my poor lil missy some new nightgowns!

I’ve made this dress several times. It’s so quick and simple. It’s easy to read and was perfect for when I was a beginner sewer, and is still great now. I’ve used it to make Halloween costumes that later turned into dress up clothes, I’ve used it to make a simple shift dress for the Renaissance Festival, and to make a simple top for my girls.

Just wanted to let you know that one of your links is wrong. The “page 3” link in bold at the bottom of the article goes to a tutorial for a vest. That looks cute, but wasn’t what I expected! Thanks for so many sewing tutorials.

that is the pin it button. At the bottom of the post, it says ” Head over to page 2 for the Pattern Download or skip to page 3 for the sewing instructions.” So go to page 2 add the pattern to your cart and check out. Once you have checked out, you will see a purple button to click, click that and the pattern is automatically downloaded to where ever your computer downloads things. Good luck

I am having a difficult time printing this pattern 🙁
I did as instructed, saved to my computer, opened in adobe reader. Printed at 100%.
Is that correct? I am anxious to sew this dress. I have printed online patterns before. I can’t figure out what I am doing wrong.
The 1″box on the pattern measures out 1″, however the rest of the pattern is not printing onto the paper.
Thanks 🙂 🙂

Hello I’m not sure if you have made it over to the directions page, but currently, this pattern is only the bodice and sleeve (both long and short) and you draw in the skirt based on your measurements (or the measurements provided.) So it is 7 pages. When printing, you should choose actual size and auto landscape/portrait. (It prints in landscape.)

That being said though, I am in the process of remaking this pattern to include the skirt – should be ready by the end of the week.

Thank you for the quick reply! I tried to read the printing directions, but may have missed the detail of “auto landscape/portrait”. And well, it worked!
I am trying to sew amid a 4 year old with a broken thumb, and 2 with the stomach bug. It’s not a pleasant picture, but I have a deadline lol.
I can’t wait for the updated pattern. I am always skeptical to my sewing skills.

I have used your original pattern with great results. I was excited to see the larger sizes! However, the bigger sizes seem a little short. So, I was wondering… where are these dresses supposed to fall, above the knee maybe? Can I just add a few inches to the bottom without a problem? New to sewing…

Hello, this is the link to the measurement chart I have based all of my more recent patterns on: http://www.basteandgather.com/blog/standard-body-measurements-create-size-chart (including this pattern update.) The finished length of the peasant dress is designed to hit just above the knee. (which is different from the suggested measurements of the old bodice pattern which hit mid to lower knee.) The size 12 is 26.75 inches from armscye to bottom hem. The 14 is 28.5 from armscye to bottom hem. (Seam and hem allowances have been subtracted from those two numbers.) On an average size girl (numbers from that chart) this length will hit right at the top of the knee. (which is slightly shorter than the test version I featured in the flounce sleeve tutorial the other day – my daughter and I both disliked how dowdy the longer length was on her.) I don’t believe I reflected this change in the instructions when I updated it but will do so now. Sometime in the future, I plan to add a tunic length cut line and probably a chart for finished pattern measurements.

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the clarification. I am making these dresses for Dress A Girl. I think I will go ahead and leave them a little long, in hopes that leaving room to grow will help them last a little longer.

Your first pattern was super easy to follow, the new version took a lot of time and was frustrating to put together because I can only print in black. I think my page 6 is off or something because half the lines don’t match up. Is anyone else having an issue? I made several dresses from your first pattern and was hoping to reprint the exact one for the next few sizes.

I actually do not care for the full patter either, lol. I do not enjoy putting huge patterns together. But I took several polls over the last couple of years and the only people who spoke up were those that wanted a full pattern. The original is still available. Go to page one where I talk about the pattern and look under the change log to find the link to that version.

LOVE this dress. I’ve made two for a friend’s granddaughter, and making a third one now for another friend’s granddaughter. I was inspired by your fall fabric version. Forgot to take photos of the other two, but will get a photo of the next one I make. THANK YOU! You’ve made this beginner sewer happy and made some little girls VERY happy!

Thank you for providing these patterns. I made an ankle length version of this for a baker’s daughter costume for my daughter’s school play. It was very easy. The only problem I encountered was that arm hole was a bit tight – a bit looser would have been good. Had I had more material, I would also have added in some gores to the skirt part of the dress to make it a bit more full and roomy but perfectly fine for what we needed!

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